EVIDENCE ON THE PART OF THE PRISONER.

Serjeant Dukes, of the Glengarry Light Infantry,
SWORN.

Q. Have you been in the 41st, and how long?
A. Seven years and six months.

Q. How long have you been a Serjeant in that Regiment?
A. Four years.

Q. How often have you been in action?

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A. Seven times - three times with Mr. Bender.

Q. Were you in the action at River Raisin, on 22d January, 1813, on the right, or on the left wing, and in whose company?
A. I was on the right, in the second grand division, covering Serjeant to Mr. Bender, in Captain Muir’s company.

Q. Of what number of men was the right wing composed, when you went into action?
A. I cannot say for the whole wing, but there were about twenty-four, or twenty-five files in our division.

Q. Who were the officers on the right wing besides Lieutenant Bender?
A. Captain Tallon, I saw no other.

Q. What situation did the enemy occupy?
A. They were behind some pickets, which were nearly as high as their chins.

Q. Do you know if Captain Tallon was wounded, if so, how long after the action was he wounded?
A. About half an hour, or three quarters of an hour after the action began - I did not see him, it was reported along the line, that he was wounded and had gone to the rear.

Q. How long did the action last on the right?
A. It lasted about two hours, I cannot say to within a few minutes.

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Q. Did you continue to be Lieutenant Bender’s covering Serjeant, during the action on the right, if so, state what you know of his conduct?
A. He quit the line once to go in the front - a man’s firelock would not go off, and he went to help him to discharge it. I saw him come into his place again, along the line between both fires; his place was at the right of the grand division - he remained there during the action. We moved up by grand divisions three or four times and charged afterwards - Mr. Bender saying out, come on my lads, charge them my boys, we shall soon have the place. - The charge had no effect, we went back by signal into the ravine, and took ground to the left, to form on the enemy’s left flank; as we were passing along the field, Mr. M’Lean, Aid-de-Camp to General Proctor, came up and I heard him tell Mr. Bender to go and get ammunition from the rear; he went for ammunition, and we made the best of our way to the right of the enemy, to an old barn and some houses; we had not been long behind the houses, before I saw Mr. Bender coming along with ammunition and a sleigh with Nettles, a soldier of the 41st - I saw Mr. Bender push down a fence, to let the horse get the nearest way to the troops; he brought the ammunition up and it was served out to the men.

Q. When you saw Lieutenant Bender coming,

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did you see him coming in front, or in the rear of the ravine?
A. I do not know whether the ravine lay along the field where we were, if it did, he crossed the ravine.

Q. Could Lieutenant Bender have gone to the rear in a shorter space of time?
A. No, nor any other man.

Q. How often did you hear Lieutenant Bender encourage the men on the right?
A. I heard him at different times, but I cannot say how many.

Q. How near to the picketing, and how often did he lead the men up?
A. To within twenty yards, or perhaps nearer. We charged only once - we had advanced in grand division before, but not so close as that.

Q. When he led the men to the charge, were there any other officers on the right wing?
A. No other officer; Captain Tallon was wounded before that.

Q. Was, or was not, the conduct of Lieutenant Bender when on the right wing, that of a brave officer?
A. I would not wish to go into action field, with a better officer.

Q. Did the enemy keep up a heavy fire during the action on the right?
A. Yes.

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Q. How many men of the right wing, were left in the field, when you took ground to the left?
A. Between thirty or forty.

Q. Did the ravine afford complete shelter from the fire of the enemy?
A. Yes, if the men had laid down close.

Q. Did Lieutenant Bender remain with the troops after he arrived from the rear with the sled?
A. He remained until the enemy surrendered, and then he went to the rear to count the dead and the wounded.

Q. Did the action continue after you had taken ground to the left?
A. Every now and then, a shot was fired; the enemy was under cover and we also.

Q. How far was Lieutenant Bender from the barn, when he was ordered to go for ammunition?
A. Between fifty and one hundred yards from the barn, in the rear of which we went to form.

Q. If there had been a horse and sled forty or fifty yards in front of the ravine, must you not have seen it?
A. Yes I must have seen it.

Q. Did you at the time see any horses dead in front of the ravine?
A. I saw none, until I saw the horse and sled with Mr. Bender and Nettles.

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Q. Were you at the attack on Sandusky in August, 1813, in whose company and in what subdivision were you?
A. I was covering Serjeant to Lieutenant Bender.

Q. State what took place on that occasion?
A. The troops having been formed between the left of the garrison and the river, the word right and left face was given; the right wing was ordered to march round double quick, to attack the right angle of the Fort. After having passed the left angle, we were discovered by the enemy, who opened a heavy fire upon us; the division in front of us, commanded by Mr. Gardner, gave way and fled to the edge of the bust; the division which Mr. Bender commanded, gave way also. Mr. Bender was between the men who gave way and the garrison, and was waving his sword and calling out to his men frequently, to go that way, pointing towards the garrison. I remained with him. I saw a man firing from the corner of the block house, I had occasion to fire at him once or twice, and Mr. Bender out ran me towards the right of the garrison. Mr. Bender was about twenty or thirty yards in front of me, towards the right angle of the garrison, when word came along from the right to the left, that every man should secure himself as well as he could. At that time I saw Mr. Gardner and saw no more of Mr. Bender.

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Q. Did you see Colonel Warburton at the time word was given for every man to secure himself?
A. No, I did not see Colonel Warburton.

Q. How far was Lieutenant Bender from the garrison, when the word came for every man to secure himself?
A. No more than twenty yards.

Q. Was Lieutenant Bender on the bank when you covered yourself?
A. Yes, he was towards the garrison, between the ravine and the enemy.

Q. Was there at the time a heavy fire from the garrison?
A. Yes.

Q. What efforts did you see Lieutenant Bender make to rally the men?
A. I heard him say many times to the men, come this way men - he made every effort in his power to get the men towards the garrison.

Q. How many subdivisions moved to the right of the Fort, and how many platoon officers were there?
A. Four subdivisions; Lieutenant Bullock commanded the right subdivision, Lieutenant Gardner the second, Lieutenant Bender the third and Ensign Proctor the fourth.

Q. Did the troops on the right come into action after they had secured themselves?
A. No, not at all.

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Q. How many were with you, when you went into the ravine?
A. Seven or eight of Mr. Bender’s subdivision, and some of the grenadiers.

Q. Did Captain Chambers ever come to the place where you were secured, to look for men?
A. No, never.

Q. How long did you continue in the ravine?
A. Almost an hour and a half.

Q. Did not Lieutenant Bender use every possible speed to reach the right angle of the Fort?
A. Yes, he did.

Q. Could he not have reached the right angle with the subdivision, had he not been delayed by encouraging the men?
A. He could.

Q. Did any men go to the left in the rear of the ravine?
A. Not that I know of.